<p>All you need is to read one book with google translate.</p>
<p>In DH they are word #3, #6, and #205. If you look them up, you will remember them better. They are Important words to know. Wry was also on the Wednesday 09 PSAT.</p>
<p>Sorry, word #205 is satire which I did not mention in my first post, but satirize was the wrong answer choice for one of the level 5 questions. The reader needed to know the difference between satirize and mock. The author was being sarcastic so the correct answer had the word mock.</p>
<p>@ATLMOM13: My problem with this is that DH will say that the synonyms mean the same thing. Sarcastic and sardonic have the same definition. Wry and droll have the same definition. And their definitions are, in fact, very close. So, what gives? Is it actually necessary to know the very slight differences between them?</p>
<p>That’s true stef1a. Should we know the slight differences. I have not done that test to see what you are talking about though.</p>
<p>I’ve never run into the types of problems that ATLMOM13 described - I have seen the questions, but they’ve never been a problem for me (I don’t really remember them asking for a word that had a synonym as one of the other answers).</p>
<p>Okay thanks. I hope such similar words pop ups on the test.</p>
<p>To clear up the confusion I meant a student should know the difference between the synonym cluster that includes wry & droll versus the cluster that includes sarcastic and sardonic or the cluster that includes satire and lampoon. I have been impressed with the way DH put these synonym clusters together. I have to admit, I knew wry but not droll.</p>
<p>Oh okay. I understand now. Any more tips from anyone?</p>
<p>um… i dont really understand what ATLmom meant if they were synonyms then they would be both right…</p>
<p>Direct Hits has them listed that way because if the two “synonyms” were on the SAT, the answer choice would be too controversial for them to fight their argument. Therefore, for the sake of the SAT, learning the words that way is very efficient.</p>
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<p>Thanks for ignoring my question. I appreciate it! We all are equal whatever score we have. We all are equal!!!</p>
<p>What was your question suleyman95?</p>
<p>in quote.^^</p>
<p>@ Suleyman95. I do not know but I think DH should be able to help cover that area as well.</p>
<p>I dont really get what ATLmom said. If the multiple choices are synonyms wouldnt they both be the answer?</p>
<p>Multiple choices wouldn’t be synonyms. She was simply stating that you should know the synonyms, such as wry/droll, and how they are different from words such as sarcastic/sardonic. Knowing that they have different meanings, albeit similar, and how to distinguish them from one another. </p>
<p>The correct answer will usually be a synonym from the question/passage, but the answer choices may seem similiar but have different meanings. You need to be able to tell the difference between the said clusters in order to arrive at the right answer.</p>
<p>Okay that makes a lot of sense now. I also thought it was confusing at first because it didn’t make sense placing synonyms as the answer choices for the correct answer. Then there would be more than one correct answer and that isn’t possible.</p>
<p>I didn’t read the entire thread, so some of my points might be repeated. I would just share with you how I improved my CR score. On the June SAT I scored a 640, I think. I didn’t study for SAT again until two weeks ago. I did a few things for CR.
First, I bought Barron’s SAT 2400, and read those 40 pages on CR, comprising mainly strategies. Then I read Noitaprep’s(sorry if I got the spellings wrong.) thread. Honestly, I found Barron’s 2400 and N’s thread very similar, the latter being a little more personal, and a hell lot persuasive.
I did about 6 full timed tests, and scored 800 on the last two ones, and +750 in all. I didn’t think I’d be able to improve my score so much so soon. Here’s what really helped me.</p>
<ol>
<li>Devil’s advocate thing. Try to find reasons to prove why the option is wrong. What we usually do is we read the options, and choose the one that appeals to us the most. That’s what I did, at least. That’s like the ‘wrongest’ thing ever! </li>
<li>Attempting questions as you read the passage. It’s imperative for slow readers like me who don’t have great mental retention, to attempt questions as we read. Really, really helped me.</li>
<li>Vocabulary. I spent the least time on this part. There are 19 questions of vocab in all. About 14 you know the answers too. About 3 you get the answer by process of elimination. For the ~3 hard ones, I don’t see the point studying 3000 words and spending so much time and energy on it, when you should spend time on the passages, which make up like more than half of the CR! I read Barron’s list of 300, most recurring words. Really helpful. I’d recommend it to anyone who has less than a month to prepare.</li>
<li>Interest yourself in the passage. Has it ever happened to you, that you’re half way through the passage, and you’re like, “What in God’s name is the passage even about?!”
Yes? Join in. The only solution to that is to force yourself to love the passage, and ask yourself after every paragraph, what the author is trying to say? What’s he feeling like? Talk the author, as funny as this sounds… it helps. “Poor him! He has to leave him home to go live in a desert! Damn!”, “Holy cow! Working women brought shame to their family in the Victorian age? That’s just sad!”, “Awww, his cat died :(” As funny as these sound, he more interested you are, the more you can concentrate, and the better you perform. </li>
<li>‘X word most nearly means’ questions are tricky. The meaning is almost never the literal meaning of the word. So be careful.</li>
<li>‘Inferences’ are a misnomer. You don’t have to infer anything! If it’s not supported by the passage, in all likeliness, it’s incorrect.
7.** Double Passage.** Read it one by one. Usually, first the questions relating to the first passage are shown, followed by the second’s. Go about this, as you go about any other passage.
8.Critical Reading is the funnest section of the SAT! I used to detest hate until a few days ago. It’s very very informative, it’s very engaging, and the results can be very rewarding if you just love the section, and take every question as a challenge. Your approach alone will fetch you 50 points, at least.</li>
</ol>